Launch PS3 60gb acting oddly, won't start help?

I recently grabbed a launch PS3, 60gb CECHA01. it wouldn't run, but had a seemingly obvious problem. As it turns out the easy to fix problem was anything but.

Connected to a TV via HDMI and powered on. After about 5 seconds the unit goes back to standby.

Entered recovery menu. Option 2 gave me an error that the hard drive wasn't accessible. Tried option 5 to reformat. Got error 800102b. Followed a tutorial explaining how to repartition the drive then reinstalled it. Still returns to standby 5 seconds after powerup.

Tried all options on the recovery menu, one by one. Each seems to complete but the unit still returns to standby 5 seconds after powering on.

I would say that since you can enter the recovery menu you might bre able to fix it. You said that you tried each recovery option, in that case what firmware does it ask for when you try to reinstall the firmware?